


how to say "i love you" in robot

by bapaldeul



Category: JBJ (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Fluff and Angst, Government Experimentation, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, daniel is a robot, donghan is a sweetheart, jihan is one-sided, jihoon is a broke adult, the angst will come later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 19:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14220234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bapaldeul/pseuds/bapaldeul
Summary: jihoon chances upon an abandoned and broken robot near a government factory and resolves to fix "Daniel" to give him a better lifethings take a shocking turn when jihoon finds out that Daniel might not be just a failed experiment after all(and of course, feelings are developed along the way)a robot!nielwink au





	how to say "i love you" in robot

**Author's Note:**

> title is adapted from Natalie Standiford's "how to say goodbye in robot"
> 
> this is me starting on another chaptered fic that i've always wanted to write!! i have so much planned out and am so so excited to share this story with you guys
> 
> thank you always for cheering me on, i love u all!!
> 
> comments and feedback is always appreciated at the end of every chapter <3

Jihoon jumps over scraps of metal; but not before he makes sure that he’s checked through every one of them. It’s easy to miss out on gold when it’s hidden in a pile of trash. He should be quiet, but he knows that the guards are getting too lazy to do their regular rounds, so he lets himself get a little reckless tonight.

 

He _really_ needs to get new glasses, he can barely see a thing, especially when there are no lights around to lend him a helping hand. Figures, no one is supposed to be here anyway.

 

 _Yet another unlucky night_ , Jihoon thinks. He’s been here for almost over an hour, but all he’s come across is hundreds of thousands of spare parts that he doesn’t need or have been destroyed beyond help, and some icky goo that he’d accidentally touched under one of the pieces. He shudders at the thought and reminds himself to wash his hands thoroughly later on.

 

At this point, he really shouldn’t be surprised that he isn’t finding anything. He doesn’t expect the South Korean Government to be so careless with what they throw away from the factory. All Jihoon is asking for is that one time that he gets lucky and makes it big.

 

Maybe then his family would answer his calls on holidays.

 

Jihoon pushes the bitter feelings away from his mind and focuses on what is in front of him. Plastics, which he isn’t very happy to see.

 

(He’s all about that environmental friendly life.)

 

Then, his phone vibrates in his pocket. It’s Donghan – it _has to_ be Donghan. He calls Jihoon every single morning (night here) when he’s going to work. Jihoon presses on “accept call” and connects it to his Bluetooth earphones immediately. He’s learnt to be a multitasker; it comes with the job.

 

“Hey,” Donghan greets him cheerily. He always greets Jihoon so happily even if he’s just gotten out of bed with an entire day of work ahead of him. Sometimes, Jihoon wishes Donghan wouldn’t have to sound so happy every time, so he wouldn’t have to attempt to match his energy.

 

“Hi, Donghan,” Jihoon says, crouching down to inspect some metals. _Nothing special_ , he decides, and throws them to the side. “Going to work?”

 

“Yep,” Donghan chirps. Jihoon thinks he hears a car door closing and the car engine starting. “You won’t believe what I just saw that reminded me of you. Want to know?”

 

Donghan has this thing, let’s call it a game, that he plays with Jihoon. When Donghan calls, they tell each other something that they saw during the day that reminded them of the other person. Jihoon cringes internally every time, but it’s hard to refuse, especially when Donghan is being so sweet.

 

“Tell me,” Jihoon plays along, taking a left turn into an even darker alley.

 

“I was getting my morning latte and the barista drew a rabbit on it for me!” Donghan cheers, and Jihoon can’t help but smile. “It reminded me of you.”

 

“That’s nice…” Jihoon replies absentmindedly, mind focusing on what’s in front of him. He thinks he sees something blinking ahead, but isn’t sure.

 

“And you?” Donghan prompts.

 

It takes Jihoon a moment to get what Donghan is saying. He feels guilty, because Donghan always comes up with something new but Jihoon? He’s stuck in the cafe in the day, and at night he acts like a criminal, collecting trash at the factory.

 

Jihoon looks around, panicked until his eyes catch a red object on the wall, “Uh. I saw a fire alarm? Because… you’re loud sometimes?”

 

 _Fuck_ , he could at least try to come up with something good.

 

“Jihoon…” Donghan starts, and Jihoon’s heart falls.

 

It’s not his fault he doesn’t reciprocate Donghan’s feelings for him, but he also doesn’t have the heart to tell Donghan to stay away either. Besides, Donghan is the only person that willingly communicates with Jihoon now, apart from the staff at the café he works at in the day and the pizza delivery man that seems to be getting increasingly concerned with the number of times Jihoon is ordering pizza at 1 in the morning.

 

He just doesn’t want to hurt Donghan’s feelings.

 

“Are you at the factory again?” Donghan asks, sighing into Jihoon’s ear.

 

“I-I was just,” Jihoon stutters, his full attention on Donghan for the first time since they’d started talking. He looks at the pile of trash around him and sighs. “Yeah, I am.”

 

“I told you not to go there anymore,” Donghan says, tone different from before. “It’s dangerous, and I really don’t like the idea of you going through stuff that people don’t want anymore. Jihoon, you have to stop going there.”

 

“But there could be something-“ Jihoon protests. His first instinct is to always protect his line of work, even if it means embarrassing himself like this.

 

“What?” Donghan cuts him off. “What could there be, Jihoon? What could be so important that you have to ignore my warnings every single time?”

 

Jihoon has half a mind to disconnect the call but calms himself down first. He’s not going to lash out at Donghan, because he doesn’t have the energy to fight.

 

Icily, he says, “You are not my mom.”

 

Because his mom doesn’t care at all. In fact, Donghan isn’t Jihoon’s anything. They might be good friends, with an unrequited love on Donghan’s side – but that doesn’t give him the right to order Jihoon around.

 

There’s silence on Donghan’s end of the line until he says, “You’re right. I’m sorry, Jihoon. I crossed the line, I’m just really worried about you, especially when I can’t see you. Can’t you fly here? I’ll buy your plane ticket, just-“

 

“Donghan, I’ll call you again later,” Jihoon cuts him off. Somehow, every conversation they have ends up this way, with Donghan begging Jihoon to go to New York and work with him in Donghan’s father’s company, and Jihoon saying no.

 

Jihoon hangs up without waiting for Donghan’s answer. He’s going to have to apologize later, even though he doesn’t want to. It frustrates him, honestly, they’ve been through this so many times. Feelings aside, as a friend, can’t Donghan respect that Jihoon loves his work?

 

“Stupid,” Jihoon curses, kicking a piece of metal to the side. It resounds with a clang. “Dumbass.”

 

When he kicks the same piece a second time into the alley, it hits something, and the bright light blinks again at the end of the alley. Jihoon squints, but he can’t make it out. Slowly, he makes his way to it.

 

Jihoon sees the light again, this time, it lasts more than a second. It seems to shine for a few seconds, then slowly weakens. It never completely goes out, which tells Jihoon that whatever it is, it must still possess some kind of energy.

 

When he goes even closer, a breath catches in his throat.

 

It’s a man.

 

His eyes are closed. To Jihoon, he looks like he’s sleeping. The man doesn’t appear to be hurt in any way. He has silver hair, wearing a white shirt that seems to be glowing from inside-

 

“Oh hell,” Jihoon whispers, kneeling down. Hesitantly, he reaches for the hem of the man’s shirt. Jihoon knows he shouldn’t be doing this to a complete stranger, but he needs to know what the hell is going on. Slowly, he lifts the shirt up.

 

Jihoon sees skin, and breathes a sigh of relief. Until he gets to the man’s chest, and he slaps a hand to his mouth to keep himself from screaming.

 

It’s not a man – it’s a _robot_ , with a human form.

 

Jihoon knows, from the tv shows he’d watched as a kid under the cover of his blankets at midnight. Also, where the human heart is supposed to be, there is a hole. Instead of blood like Jihoon expects to see, there are only wires sticking out, and a deep blue glow coming from within.

 

It must have come from the factory – someone must have thrown him, or it, out.

 

But _why_?

 

Jihoon knows robots exist – he’s seen artificial intelligence in real life. Some help out at restaurants, some at factories, but he’s never seen one look as… human as this one. And why would they throw it out so carelessly like this?

 

Jihoon decides there and then: he _has to_ bring this robot home with him.

 

His tiny frame definitely isn’t going to support the robot, so he looks around for an alternative. From the corner of his eye, he spots a trolley, and rushes to get it.

 

The robot it heavy. Jihoon struggles to get it to even stand. (Maybe he should have gone to the gym, but he has no money to spend on a gym membership.)

 

One leg at a time, he finally gets the robot into the trolley. It looks uncomfortable, but can robots even feel pain? Because Jihoon feels guilty, he readjusts the limbs such that the robot is slumped comfortably in the trolley.

 

Right, he has to do something about the glowing. Quickly, he takes off his own coat and puts it on the robot. He shivers, it’s a cold night out. But he’ll survive.

 

He’s set.

 

Quickly, he pushes the trolley out of the factory the same way he came in. He just hopes no one asks him why he has a robot in his trolley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the Uber driver has to ask him.

 

“Is uh… your friend alright?” the man’s eyes shift between Jihoon and the robot, which Jihoon is grateful for, is still in a deep sleep. Or maybe he just needs to be charged, Jihoon doesn’t know how it works.

 

“Yeah,” Jihoon forces a smile. “He just got a little drunk, no worries. He won’t puke in your car.”

 

“Drinking?” the man says, watching Jihoon struggling to get the robot in the car. “Out here?”

 

Jihoon curses internally. _Why do drivers have so many questions?_

 

“It’s our special place,” Jihoon replies with a tight smile.

 

Thankfully, the driver doesn’t ask him any other questions during the ride home.

 

When Jihoon catches his breath, he takes a good look at the robot’s face. He touches its hair, nose and lips. Everything feels so… real. So human. If it wasn’t for the obvious glowing that is now hidden by Jihoon’s winter jacket, he never would have guessed.

 

“How did you get out here,” he mumbles to himself.

 

Jihoon checks his phone, and there have been 10 missed calls from Donghan. He sighs, and turns his phone off. It’s going to be one hell of a night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a real pain to get the robot out of the car and into the lift. It’s worth a whole month of gym time, so Jihoon compromises. He ignores the strange looks the driver gives him and quickly rushes into his apartment.

 

When he’s home, he finally lets the robot slump onto the chair in his ‘experiment room’.

 

“What now?” he says aloud.

 

Jihoon has never brought anything like this home. The most exciting thing he’s gotten from the factory is a few drones that had many missing parts. This is a whole different game altogether. First, he removes his jacket and the robot’s shirt.

 

It’s probably an inappropriate time to notice this, but the so-called man robot is pretty ripped. Jihoon would die to have that kind of body.

 

“Maybe you should be focusing on the hole in his chest,” his inner conscience tells him.

 

Where does he even start?

 

“I put myself through university,” Jihoon pep talks himself. “I can do this.”

 

His hands are shaky, but he scrutinizes the hole. There are a few wires sticking out, nothing he can’t fix. It’s almost the same procedure as fixing a broken lightbulb. Jihoon puts on his safety glasses, and gets to work.

 

After half an hour, Jihoon thinks it’s looking pretty good. The wires are repaired, and the glowing hasn’t seemed to go off; which he assumes is a good thing.

 

Then, he’s stuck.

 

Does he want to know how to start up this robot? How is he going to do it? There’s no visible charging point or whatsoever. University did not prepare him for this. In the midst of his worrying, his phone vibrates on the table again.

 

_Donghan._

 

Jihoon can’t run away from his only friend forever. He takes away his lab glasses and picks up the phone. He could use a little break, his back is starting to hurt, and he needs to make up with Donghan. Jihoon gives the sleeping robot’s hair one last playful ruffle before picking up the call and going to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Listen, Jihoon. I’m so, so sorry about what happened,” Donghan says as soon as Jihoon picks up the phone. “I thought about it, and I was at fault for talking like that to you.”

 

“Don’t say that,” Jihoon protests weakly as he holds his phone between his ear and his shoulder while pouring himself some water. “I was being an asshole too.”

 

“Guess we were both being assholes then,” Donghan concludes.

 

Jihoon knows they’re going to be okay.

 

“Also, about New York-“ Donghan begins.

 

“Donghan, please,” Jihoon interrupts. “We’re okay. Let’s not talk about New York, alright?”

 

“Okay,” Donghan replies weakly. “Sorry.”

 

Jihoon hates this. He hates how Donghan sounds like a kicked puppy that he’s leaving at the side of the road whenever he draws the line between them. Jihoon just doesn’t want to give Donghan the wrong idea, to give his friend false hope.

 

“It’s okay,” Jihoon breathes. He takes a gulp of water and instantly feels better.

 

“Jihoon?” Donghan asks.

 

Jihoon closes his eyes. He knows when Donghan uses _this_ tone with him, he knows it so well.

 

“I’m going to wait,” Donghan says, taking Jihoon’s silence as a sign to go ahead. “Okay? I’m going to wait until you come around. Things aren’t as complicated as you think they are.”

 

Thing is, things are as complicated as Jihoon thinks they are. His only friend is in love with him, and Jihoon doesn’t know how to tell Donghan politely that he’s never felt anything romantic for him.

 

“I need some time,” Jihoon replies after a long pause. He’s needed time for years now. Five, to be exact. Even after 15 years, Jihoon knows his feelings aren’t going to change.

 

“That’s okay,” Donghan says.

 

“It’s not okay,” Jihoon says softly.

 

It’s _not okay_   for him to take advantage of Donghan’s feelings like this. It would be easier if Donghan wasn’t the only one willing to be his friend. As much as Jihoon denies it, he needs the affection and care that Donghan showers him with. Even if the guilt backfires on him in the end.

 

“Are you going to sleep soon?” Donghan tries to change to subject. “It’s pretty late over there, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Jihoon nods, turning around to return to his room. Until his eyes shift to the kitchen door and he feels his limbs go weak. The next thing he hears is the glass in his hands smashing on the floor.

 

“Jihoon? Jihoon! Are you okay?” he hears Donghan shouting over the phone, but doesn’t have the energy to respond.

 

His heart is thumping so fast and out of fear, he steps back.

 

Instantly, he feels a sharp pain shoot through his right foot.

 

“Fuck,” he curses.

 

Maybe he’s talking about the glass shard in his foot – or maybe it’s the man/robot standing in his doorway, looking as alive as ever, except for the hole in his chest.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

_It speaks._

 

Jihoon screams, falls onto his butt, tries to break his fall, and feels more glass shards pierce through his palms.

 

The robot steps forward instinctively, and Jihoon backs away, another scream dying in his throat. He never expected the robot to wake up, much less talk and walk like a human.

 

“You’re hurt,” the robot states, blinking once.

 

“Y-you talk,” Jihoon stutters. “How did you get out?”

 

He winces again from the pain. It’s all starting to come back now that the adrenaline is slowly fading away.

 

“You’re hurt,” the robot repeats. “You need help.”

 

The robot takes another step forward, and Jihoon instantly retreats backwards, careful not to cut himself on anymore glass. Quickly, he ends the call with Donghan. Donghan absolutely does not need to know that he brought a robot home from the factory. He would call the police immediately.

 

“Whoa,” Jihoon says, holding out his hands defensively. “Don’t come any closer.”

 

The robot doesn’t take his word for it. Instead, it walks forward, unresponsive to the glass shards that it steps on, and kneels down to meet Jihoon’s eye level. At this point, Jihoon is just shaking in fear at what the robot is going to do to him.

 

Without warning, the robot tucks his arms around Jihoon’s waist and lifts him up without much effort.

 

“W-what are you doing?” Jihoon stutters, “How did you wake up? How can you talk?”

 

“I was programmed to do so,” the robot replies plainly, opening the door leading to Jihoon’s room. Slowly, he puts Jihoon down on his bed. “About waking up… I’m not too sure. Last thing I remember is being at the factory… next thing, I’m in your room.”

 

“Yeah,” Jihoon scratches his head. “That might have been my fault.”

 

The robot cocks his head to one side, as if not understanding. Jihoon purses his lips together – he can’t believe he’s having an actual conversation with a robot right now, one that seems to carry conversation as well as a human would.

 

“I will treat you,” the robot ignores him. “I need bandages and medicine. What do you have?”

 

“Um,” Jihoon scratches his head.

 

“Um isn’t in my database,” the robot interrupts. “I’m sorry for not understanding, is there anything else you have? Plasters would do, if you don’t have bandages.”

 

“No, ‘um’ doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Jihoon tries to explain, then takes one look at the blank expression the robot has and decides that his attempts to explain filler words are futile and exhausting to explain to someone that isn’t human. “Top left kitchen cabinet, you should find what you need in there.”

 

The robot quickly rises to his feet and scurries out of Jihoon’s room, leaving him to his own devices.

 

He cusses softly while pulling a shard out of his palm and sees a small pool of blood forming instantly.

 

“Don’t touch the infection!” a loud voice suddenly commands from the doorway, shocking Jihoon. He lifts his head, only to see the robot running back to his side. “Your hands could be dirty. Please leave it to me, I know how to do this.”

 

The robot returns to the bed, making his bed dip at the weight.

 

“Healing me is important and all but…” Jihoon shifts his eyes wearily between the bed and the robot’s nicely toned abs. “Would you mind putting on your shirt?”

 

“Oh,” the robot replies. “Are you finding _me_ distracting?”

 

Jihoon instantly feels his face heat up, “No! Just… I’m afraid that you’ll catch a cold.”

 

“I can’t catch a cold,” the robot states, emotionless. Jihoon sighs, cursing internally at his stupidity. Of course, robots can’t catch colds. He’s just not used to having half naked men, much less robots, on his bed.

 

“Please,” Jihoon pleads. “For the sake of my eyes.”

 

“If that’s what you want,” the robot shrugs and gets up to fetch his shirt from the experiment room. When he returns, there’s still a slight blueish glow from where the hole is.

 

“They don’t look like very deep cuts,” the robot explains while cleaning his wounds. “You should heal quickly. Or maybe you should be more careful next time.”

 

“You were the one who scared me,” Jihoon quips, watching the robot skilfully cut up the bandages and wrap them around his palm.

 

“Me?” the robot’s eyes grow wider. “What did I do?”

 

“ _You tell me_ ,” Jihoon mumbles, then realizes the robot probably doesn’t detect sarcasm either. “I mean… it’s not every day a human sees a talking robot in his kitchen. You shouldn’t creep up on me like that next time.”

 

“It was my fault then. I apologize,” the robot says.

 

“It’s okay,” Jihoon says softly, observing the robot’s actions. He doesn’t make the slightest mistake, everything he does is perfect and accurate. “Were you programmed to help out in the health sector?”

 

He’s seen robots in hospitals. In this day and age, it’s hard to find a company that doesn’t make use of artificial intelligence. It’s just that he’s never seen a robot as human-oriented as the one in front of him.

 

“Yes,” the robot smiles, and Jihoon thinks he hears some pride in the robot’s tone of voice. “I was part of a secret experiment to try and help treat incurable diseases with the use of artificial intelligence.”

 

“That’s incredible,” Jihoon marvels as the robot finishes treating his wounds.

 

“Not really,” the robot replies, and Jihoon realizes he’s not smiling anymore. “There’s some kind of problem… in the coding or whatever. I’m a failed experiment, I should never be let near any human.”

 

“You did well,” Jihoon argues. He doesn’t know why he’s trying to defend a robot, it just makes him unhappy that somebody else is putting their abilities down in front of him. Jihoon thinks the robot treated his cuts pretty well.

 

“I’m really dangerous,” the robot says, moving off the bed. “You should really return me to the factory, or somewhere far away from human kind.”

 

“Why?” Jihoon challenges. “What exactly did you do?”

 

As far as Jihoon is concerned, there is nothing that science cannot fix. If there is something wrong with the coding, you can always recode it. You can redesign anything, and one day, you’ll eventually get what you want.

 

“I hit someone,” the robot squeezes his eyes shut, like it actually hurts for him to remember. “Some lab technician. I don’t know what came over me – I suddenly had no control over my mind. I think I lost all control and hit him when he came too near me. He’s in a coma now.”

 

A breath catches in Jihoon’s throat – he’s heard about this discourse too many times. As much as artificial helps contribute to organizations and pushes their society forward, there is always a danger where humans will lose control of the robots, and all hell will break lose.

 

Technology and new inventions are always a huge gamble, especially with lives on the line.

 

The robot looks devastated, a stark contrast from before.

 

“Do you… have a name?” Jihoon asks.

 

The robot turns around to meet his eyes. And that is when, for the first time, Jihoon realises that his eyes are blue.

 

“Test subject 101,” the robot replies.

 

“Like a real name,” Jihoon clarifies.

 

“I don’t know,” the robot shifts uncomfortably. “We’re not allowed to take on any human names, it’s just not right.” The robot then scratches the nape of his neck, looking a little embarrassed when he adds, “Although I’ve always thought that the name ‘Daniel’ was really cool.”

 

Jihoon smiles.

 

“Daniel it is then,” Jihoon confirms, relieved that he doesn’t have to refer to it as ‘the robot’ in his mind anymore. “My name is Jihoon.”

 

“Jihoon,” the robot repeats, as if committing it to memory.

 

“Park Jihoon,” Jihoon adds.

 

Jihoon thinks that his life (full of many failures) will eventually lead up to one big ‘eureka’ moment and that is when Jihoon will rise to his calling, and fulfil his dreams of being one of the world’s most valued creators, or inventor, if you will.

 

And maybe, _just maybe_ , Daniel is _his_ ‘eureka’ moment.

 

“I’ll help you,” Jihoon says. He doesn’t miss the surprise that forms on Daniel’s face. “I believe you’re a good person- uh, I mean, robot. I’ll work something out, and I’ll try to fix you.”

 

“Why?” Daniel questions, frowning. “Why would you want to help me?”

 

“You have a dream, right? You want to help cure diseases. I’ve made a pact with myself never to let anyone give up on their dreams. If anything, I want to help them realize it,” Jihoon says. There’s a bittersweet pang that hits his heart, but he ignores it. He fakes a smile, “Besides, I owe you one for treating me.”

 

Daniel seems to ponder over Jihoon’s suggestion. (Do robots have the ability to evaluate solutions?) Jihoon guesses yes, because Daniel was supposed to work in the health sector.

 

“Can you really help me?”

 

Jihoon purses his lips.

 

“I will try my best.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Maybe we should continue tomorrow,” Daniel suggests after three hours of non-stop research. Jihoon doesn’t know what to start on first – he thinks the biggest problem is the big glowing hole in Daniel’s chest.

 

But when Jihoon is fixated on something, he can get caught up in it until someone forces him to stop.

 

“Your brain is sending many distress signals to me,” Daniel interrupts again. “You need to sleep.”

 

“Do I?” Jihoon muses, his eyelids heavy.

 

He’s drunk two cups of coffee, and he needs to get up in three hours for work. Okay, maybe he needs some sleep. He shuts down his computer, and turns to Daniel who has sat obediently in his chair the entire time.

 

“What about you?” Jihoon asks.

 

“I don’t need sleep,” Daniel states.

 

“Well… it’s weird if you stay awake the entire time,” Jihoon shrugs.

 

“Okay then,” Daniel agrees. “I’ll sleep.”

 

“I’ll take the couch,” Jihoon offers. “You can have my bed.”

 

“No, I’ll take the couch,” Daniel stands up first.

 

“It’s uncomfortable,” Jihoon argues.

 

“I wouldn’t know that,” Daniel says. Jihoon contemplates his options – it’s true that robots probably have no sense of comfort, and if he’s going to stay up arguing with a robot he might as well not sleep at all. And no, they’re not close enough to share a bed like in romantic movies.

 

This isn’t a romantic movie, and Daniel isn’t a person, so.

 

“Fine,” Jihoon relents. “Can you wake me up in three hours? I need to go to work.”

 

Under his breath he mumbles something about why he’d been conned into doing the morning shift when he’s so obviously not a morning person. Then again, he needs the money to support him and his non-existent job.

 

Daniel nods, “I’ll wake you up at exactly 6am. Do you need breakfast? I can make a simple one.”

 

Jihoon thinks about agreeing, how nice it would be to have breakfast for once in years. Then he remembers he has nothing in his fridge except for cold pizza.

 

“It’s okay,” Jihoon smiles. “You should get to sleep.”

 

Daniel follows Jihoon to his room, and stands outside, watching him get into bed, which Jihoon has to admit, is a little creepy. Thank God Daniel looks like a human (except for the hole), Jihoon doesn’t think he could handle a machine standing at his door.

 

“Go to sleep,” Jihoon says from under his blanket.

 

“Okay,” Daniel scratches the nape of his neck. “Thank you, Jihoon. You’re a really good person.”

 

Jihoon doesn’t know what to say to that, so he chooses not to say anything. And then after a while, he hears Daniel walking away to the living room. He guesses that Daniel is lying down on the couch, but he doesn’t even turn off the lights.

 

Jihoon just chuckles at the absurdity of the entire situation, and silently prays that Daniel isn’t a man-killing machine that’s going to murder him in the middle of the night.

 

Then he thinks about having to serve customers tomorrow morning and a part of him wishes Daniel would come in and just suffocate him already.

 

He falls asleep soon enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_“Jihoon? Jihoon…”_

_“Jihoon, you have to wake up now.”_

_“Jihoon, I let you sleep in for ten minutes. It’s exactly 6:10 in the morning, we have to get going…”_

 

Jihoon wishes the voice would just go away, because he’s having a really good dream. And then he feels some rocking him gently, and just buries his face into his pillow and groans loudly, “Please, let me sleep.”

 

There is silence, and Jihoon makes himself comfortable again.

 

Just when he’s about to drift off again, he hears the same voice.

 

“But you said to wake you up. But if it doesn’t really matter, I will let you be.”

 

And then everything suddenly starts flooding into Jihoon’s mind – him being at the factory, and the robot; Daniel.

 

He opens his eyes, and sees a familiar face staring back at him.

 

“Ah!” Jihoon squeaks, pulling the covers over his head.

 

“Good morning, Jihoon. Did you sleep well?”

 

When Jihoon calms down and assures himself that there isn’t an intruder in his house, he removes the covers. Daniel is still in the same clothes from yesterday, and looking down at him from his position beside the bed.

 

“I guess,” Jihoon yawns. “I’m still exhausted.”

 

“That’s because you got three hours and ten minutes of sleep, as compared to the eight hours you should be getting,” Daniel explains patiently.

 

“You’re right,” Jihoon mumbles, still a little hazed.

 

He gets off the bed, and does his usual routine – brushing his teeth, having a quick shower, washing his face, and changing into the plain black shirt that he wears for work. It’s pretty normal, if you don’t count the light steps that are following Jihoon wherever he goes.

 

Jihoon tries not to say anything; Daniel is probably trying his best to not be a bother to Jihoon anyway.

 

“So… what do you do for work?” Daniel asks, legs hanging off Jihoon’s bed while Jihoon is trying his best to speed dry his hair. Sleeping in for 10 minutes was a mistake.

 

“I work at a café,” Jihoon says, and then adds, “You know, the place where people go to have coffee and small eats.”

 

“You know how to make coffee?” Daniel beams at this new information.

 

“No,” Jihoon shakes his head, a little embarrassed. “I work as a waiter there. I bring the coffee and food to people, maybe help with the cashier and cleaning sometimes.”

 

“Oh, wow,” Daniel nods, like he’s thinking hard.

 

Jihoon finishes with his hair, decides it can’t get any better than this and stands up.

 

“What are you going to do?” Jihoon eyes Daniel.

 

“I don’t know,” Daniel shrugs. “I could stay here and wait for you to come home.”

 

Jihoon thinks hard, but decides Daniel isn’t some kind of lap dog who deserves to be kept at home with nothing to do and sighs. No one told him bringing home that robot from the factory would be so exhausting.

 

“You can come with me,” Jihoon suggests. “To work. There’s not much there… but you’ll definitely be more entertained there than here.”

 

Besides, he doesn’t really trust Daniel enough to let him out of his sight just yet.

 

Daniel lights up like a puppy, “I could? I would love to! I’ve never been to a café.”

 

Jihoon smiles, “I guess that’s decided then. Come on, let’s go. Or I’ll miss the bus and my manager will chew my head off.”

 

Daniel’s smile drops immediately and looks at Jihoon worriedly.

 

“Is your manager dangerous?”

 

Jihoon doesn’t understand for a second, then remembers Daniel doesn’t get slang, metaphors, whatever you call those.

 

“No, _“chewing my head off”_ doesn’t mean he’s actually going to bite me,” Jihoon explains as patiently as he can. He thinks of an easier way to put it, “If I’m late, he’s going to yell at me really badly, so let’s go, okay?”

 

“Um…” Daniel looks unsure.

 

“What?” Jihoon asks, “You don’t want to go?”

 

“I mean, this,” Daniel points at the hole in his chest.

 

“Oh,” Jihoon remembers. “Right.”

 

He’d totally forgotten about the glowing hole in Daniel’s chest. For now, there’s still nothing he can do to actually cover it up so he digs through his closet to find a hoodie big enough to fit Daniel.

 

_Why did the creators have to give Daniel such broad shoulders anyway?_

 

“You can put this on for now,” Jihoon finally finds Donghan’s hoodie in the back of his closet. He’d left it with Jihoon before flying off to New York. Donghan is definitely more of Daniel’s size, but still, not quite. But they’ll have to make do for now.

 

Daniel puts the hoodie on comfortably, and Jihoon thinks he looks normal. Normal enough to be walking outside, and taking the bus, and sitting in a café just like any other human.

 

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Jihoon struggles to put on his shoes and lock the door.

 

He’s running late, and Jisung is most definitely going to bite his head off. Maybe even literally.

 

Daniel has long legs, and doesn’t even break a sweat when Jihoon makes him run to the bus stop. In fact, he looks happy, his smile stretches from one end to another when they make it just in time for the bus, and Jihoon pays for the both of them.

 

“This is so fun,” Daniel puts his hands up when the bus starts moving like he’s on a rollercoaster, drawing strange looks from the commuters beside them.

 

Jihoon hurriedly puts Daniel’s hands down.

 

If he walks a little faster, he’s definitely going to make it on time. And in the meantime, he needs to think of an excuse to tell his colleagues why he has a plus one tagging along with him to work today.

 

And then, something feels terribly wrong. It’s like Jihoon has forgotten something, but doesn’t know what.

 

_Wallet, check. Home keys, check. Phone, check. Robot, check._

 

What could he be forgetting?

 

His phone buzzes, and Jihoon’s heart drops.

 

Donghan.

 

He’d forgotten to reply Donghan after hanging up on him last night. He finally looks at his phone for the first time that morning, and there are double digits missed calls from Donghan, and even more unread text messages.

 

Jihoon just hopes Donghan hasn’t called for the police to come looking for him yet.

**Author's Note:**

> that's just the end of chapter 1!!
> 
> jihoon's and daniel's backstory will be revealed later~
> 
> but do let me know what you all think of this au and the first chapter :D
> 
> thank you all always for the love and support, please take care of yourselves till the next update <3


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